The announcement of the iPhone 5 — biggest tech news that came out last week.
It certainly couldn’t be ignored on my news feed, so this week I am bringing you my favorite and not so favorite social media updates on it.
Mashable
Mashable‘s never and I mean NEVER ending updates. Without a doubt, this announcement was very fitting for their brand, but it felt overwhelming to me… Like Black Friday or a college textbook store when they know this is it! This is their big day and they only have a small window of time to market — Yeah I’d say that’s what it felt like. Yet, in all honest it’s not their single biggest day. They have so many channels from tech, to business, to social good.
Stretch it out, I felt like I was walking down a perfume isle the day before Christmas. It’s too much!
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed on future predictions for the iPhone. I love how the photo says it all here — saying so much with so little.
Society6
Society6 embraces a problem that the new iPhone 5 will face (besides the new charger outlet) — cases. They are already a step ahead of the game by saying, hey we’ve thought about this, they’re available and can be shipped to you in about a week. Not the same day as when the actual iPhone ships, if you pre-ordered, BUT it is better than this next solution….
Threadless
This was one of Threadless‘ responses to the iPhone 5. What I get from this Facebook update is sheer panic to get rid of the old cases. It may not be conveyed in the copy but the timing on this was the day after the announcement. Compared to Society6’s response, the feel of this makes me uneasy. Maybe I like a brand that will provide me with a solution to a new change. I think that’s called trust and thinking ahead for your customers.
Last week I participated in the Curators Conference. As I did not want to pay $400 for admission, I decided to take what I like to call the “Hustler Approach” and volunteer for the event. To say the least it was a gruesome 12 hour day, but well worth not having to shell out the cash for the conference. Another positive was getting to experience the inner workings of running a conference, something I’ve always wanted to do.
While being a volunteer does face the disadvantage of being able to seeing every speaker, a few speakers I did manage to see stood out to me. Specifically Soraya Darabi, who is the co-founder of Foodspotting and was formerly in charge of NYTimes’ Social Media. As most speakers took the approach to talk about their company and what they do, Soraya instead, walked us through an hour by hour snapshot of her day with the apps and websites she uses daily– curating her life through social.
Her day consisted of this:
Cir.ca: News, re-imagined. (New app -not yet released.)
Path: Staying connected with family & close friends.
Work Flowy: Organize your brain. This tool helps organize personal to-dos, collaborate on large team projects, take notes, write research papers, keep a journal, plan a wedding, and much more.
Sparrow: Combining email and social at the same time.
BrandYourself: Curating SEO results, your personal brand, and Google results.
Foodspotting:Visual guide to good food and where to find it.
Spotify: Digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs.
Highlight:Gives you a sixth sense about the world around you, showing you hidden connections and making your day more fun.
Svpply:Online shopping. Helps you find the products you love, from the people and stores you find interesting.
This break down left me wondering– is this even true? Does anyone have a breakdown hour by hour of applications they use? Probably not, even Soraya mentions she only uses specific apps and only the most productive ones that meets her own needs. Perhaps it isn’t possible, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have productivity in mind.
Continuing to thinking about this concept I asked myself —Is anyone this organized? What is my daily routine?
Looking at my past few days, weeks, even months I realized I honestly don’t have one. I love to stop what I’m doing to help others but I haven’t really helped myself. Feeling completely unorganized with managing my own priorities, this is something I need to start changing.
“Small sustainable changes are more likely to stick.” I may not have a solid play-by-play of every hour of my day, but I can start by making small sustainable changes.
Things I would like to try for 30 days:
Dedicate an hour a day to:
Writing
Reading
Learning Italian
Gym time
Personal time– Including everything I need to catch up on in life, from Twitter updates to planning my birthday trip.
Cooking one new recipe a week
Trying one new restaurant per week
Meet 5 new people per week
Like Matt says, “the next 30 days are going to happen whether you like it or not, why not do something you’ve always wanted to try.”
Hope everyone had a great Labor Day break. Because of the holiday, this usual Social Marketing Monday will be dubbed Social Marketing Tuesday!
This week’s examples take a look into how brands are using visual marketing towards their social media efforts. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Visual Marketing. According to a Wikpiedia definition, Visual Marketingfocuses on the study and critical analysis of the ability of objects to be ‘protagonists’ in a visual communication scenario. More simply put, a means of using visuals (i.e photos) that drive your marketing efforts forward.
Call to actions and elegant copy are certainly necessary, however it is the visual that speaks before the text.
Personally, this has always been a favorite task of mine on any given project. I enjoy finding the right visuals that will fit a particular piece of content ever so perfectly, it’s like a puzzle for me.
Here are some examples I found this past week that are driving the conversation forward, leading with the visuals:
This is a cool visual. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t stop and have a double look at this photo. Better yet, Lost in E Minor then asks its audience to think of a great one-liner for it. Visual Marketing can be used as a conversation starter, and usually isn’t that how things go viral?
Indiegogo is a global platform for crowdfunding, empowering anyone, anywhere, to raise money for anything. This post is what is known as texts over image. Admittedly, pretty pictures and inspiring quotes is a weakness of mine. I post similar visuals on my own Facebook every Monday for motivation. Many people do it, it’s a cliché but everyone needs some motivation and this example is particularly fitting to the brands core values.
As most of you know, a new feature to Facebook is endless updates. This includes when a friend or brand updates their cover photo. This example of Tasting Table’s latest cover update immediately caught my attention. Mostly, again, for the visual. It is classic, very fitting for their brand, overall I thought it was a unique idea. Showcasing one of their guest editors while doing a complete ROS (in this case run of social) take over.
Here is an example of Visual Marketing at its best in Warby Parker’s Where’s Waldo Facebook post. Mixing a notorious icon to promote their product, Where’s Waldo inspired frames.
Takeaways
Visual Marketing can be approached in a number of different ways. Whether it be used to promote a product, promotion, event, or even if it is just to get the conversation started in your social community. I find the way brands are using visuals to market limitless. This is a passion subject for me so there will definitely be further research in the future.
Are there any examples of brands using visual marketing that have stuck out to you? I would love to know, send your best examples in the comment section.
Nicole Monahan 